iOS 10.2 Will Feature a New Tool to Identify ‘Other’ Faulty iPhones

Has your iPhone been randomly shutting down on you lately? Apple apparently has a solution already in the works.

In a support document published to its Chinese-language website on Tuesday morning, Apple confirmed that an imminent iOS software update — due as early as “next week” — will include a new diagnostic tool designed to help the company collect information about “sudden iPhone shutdowns” — a move all but confirming that the current slate of iPhone 6s battery issues aren’t limited to just a select few devices, as initially thought.

Though written in Chinese, the document, according toAppleInsider, explains that “some phones outside the affected batch” also appear to be plagued by sudden shutdowns, similar to the iPhone 6s units already deemed eligible for a free battery replacement courtesy of Apple — and, as such, the company “will add an additional diagnostic feature to the iOS software update that is [to be] released next week.”

Noting how it can make improvements to battery performance via future iOS software updates, Apple indicated that the tool will help it collect important data about battery algorithms, behavior, and performance patterns that may help the company to identify if the unit is faulty or not.

Apple doesn’t identify iOS 10.2, in particular, as the “forthcoming software update” — however, given that iOS 10.2 recently entered its 6th beta release, and that the update was promised sometime during the month of December, it’s only reasonable to assume that iOS 10.2 is the update of which Apple speaks.

The cornerstone feature of iOS 10.2 is Apple’s exciting new TV app, but the software will also feature a bunch of new emojis, as well as a new single sign-on feature for logging into apps offered by your cable TV provider.

Are you hopeful the new diagnostic tool will solve your current iPhone’s problems? Let us know in the comments!